The 35-year-old gay staffer said he went to Mr Pyne, then a senior figure in Opposition, at the suggestion of Queensland MP Wyatt Roy, to discuss making a complaint after Mr Slipper sent him suggestive texts.

"And I remember the conversation didn't last too long at all. We literally got up from his table, he (Pyne) walked me towards the door, he said to me, 'You're a braver man than I am,' as we exited and said, "If you discuss or tell anyone we've had this discussion, I'll be forced to come out publicly and call you a pathological liar."

Mr Ashby told Liz Hayes that the offer of a solicitor and job security gave him the "confidence" to make his allegations of sexual harassment.

During the interview, Mr Ashby alleged that he also made contact with senior Coalition figure Mal Brough, who Slipper lost his seat to.

Dee and Darren scored an almost perfect 28, but it still wasn't enough to win kitchen week.Source: Channel 9

IT was dubbed "Kitchen Nightmare Week", but after all the drama and the hiccups, five of the biggest and best kitchens ever seen on The Block emerged in all their shiny glory.

Problem after problem threatened to derail each of the teams, but they all managed to get the impossible task done in a week.

Bulkhead dramas, dwindling budgets, plumbing issues and as always, not enough time, were just the start of the problems, with most teams experiencing some of their worst days on The Block.

For the first time this season two teams tied for first with Scotty generously awarding them both $10,000 in prize money.

Michael and Carlene and Simon and Shannon were each awarded scores of 29, just one mark off perfect.

As they say on The Block, "kitchens sell houses", so judging by this feedback, who do you think is going to win?

Michael and Carlene

Michael and Carlene's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Michael and Carlene's secret weapon was the wow factor of an indoor garden under the stairs, which was described as "brilliant" by the judges and something they'd never seen before. Of the kitchen, Shayna said: "This is hot", while Neale added: "The immediate impact is terrific, it's absolutely superb". The judges praised the well-planned use of the space, while the pantry was described as the "icing on the cake". "It's an entertainer's kitchen, a serious kitchen," said Neale.

Michael and Carlene's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Michael and Carlene's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

SCORE: 29

Chris and Jenna

Chris and Jenna's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Chris and Jenna's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Chris and Jenna had the biggest kitchen on The Block, with the judges declaring "Chris and Jenna are back in the game" after some lacklustre reviews in past weeks. "This is beautiful," said Shayna. Their copper sink won big points. "I love, love, love this kitchen, I think it's really elegant and sophisticated," said Darren. "You could store two kitchens worth of stuff in here." While Shayna said of the massive pantry: "That is a whole 'nother postcode right there". Chris and Jenna also added a bar and a wine fridge, but the judges said that space could have been used better as a study nook. But Neale concluded by saying, "It spells out luxury with a capital L," adding that luxury is not a word he uses often.

Chris and Jenna's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

SCORE: 28

Maxine and Karstan

Max and Karstan's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

"Its just massive", was the judges' first impression. "They're really all about space and gloss," said Neale, while praising the "astonishing level of execution" and the separate breakfast bar. But Shayna was harder on the duo, saying they needed to balance the hard, soft and glossy surfaces better. "I'm screaming for some timber in here, screaming for some softness ... its got a very clinical feel to it". The kitchen overall was described as like a working kitchen in a commercial environment. "It's got everything. It has everything you could possibly need ... except soul", said Neale. For once, Shayna actually thought there was too much storage in the butler's pantry, which was described as "like a clinical storage box".

Maxine and Karstan's butler's pantry.Source: Channel 9

SCORE: 26

Shannon and Simon

Simon and Shannon's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Despite a nightmare week the boys were immediately praised for their stunning polished concrete floor. This is "cool", said Neale, while admiring the cooktop with the view out to the street. Their kitchen was described as modern, edgy with a "sophisticated palette". Shayna particularly loved the stools underneath a bar that opened out to the bi-fold doors. While Darren loved the great combination of glossy surfaces with great textures. The judges were overwhelmed with the execution of the apartment, with Neale concluding: "If I was to imagine the perfect inner-city Prahran kitchen in 2014, this would be pretty damn close to it."

Inside Shannon and Simon's kitchen.Source: Channel 9

"That is the perfect place for a microwave", said Darren.Source: Channel 9

SCORE: 29

Dee and Daz

Inside Dee and Daz' kitchen.Source: Channel 9

Inside Dee and Daz's pantry.Source: Channel 9

The judges said from the floor up, the kitchen was "spectacular and hugely successful". Said Neale: "The marble becomes the hero of this room ... everything feels exactly right," adding that the kitchen was the perfect mix of contemporary and traditional. But Shayna said she looked "silly" sitting on the stool in the study nook and the area would best be used as a place to "dump the bills" and paperwork. The judges concluded that this kitchen had a "sense of family and a sense of home". While Shayna said of all the kitchens, this one was like a "warm hug" and Neale added "it has a lovely spirit".

Horror crash ... at least one Australian has died ni a bus crash in Kenya. Picture: Twitter: Martin CuddihySource: Supplied

AT least one Australian is reported to be dead after a bus crash in Kenya.

A tour bus travelling to Maasai Mara overturned outside the city of Nairobi on Sunday night, an ABC report says.

The victim was reportedly an elderly Australian woman.

Local media in the African nation is reporting that up to two Australians could be dead.

It is believed the crash occurred after a tyre burst, the bus ended up in a nearby creek and eight people were taken to hospital.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said the Australian High Commission in Nairobi was responding to a fatal bus crash in Kenya in which a number of Australians were believed to be involved.

The breakthrough came when Dr Jari Louhelainen, an expert in historic DNA, was commissioned to study a shawl found with Eddowes, the second-last "confirmed" victim of the Ripper more than 125 years ago.

The shawl — which still retained historic stains — had been bought by a businessman at an auction in 2007.

"It has taken a great deal of hard work, using cutting-edge scientific techniques which would not have been possible five years ago," Dr Louhelainen told a British newspaper.

"Once I had the profile, I could compare it to that of the female descendant of Kosminski's sister, who had given us a sample of her DNA swabbed from inside her mouth.

"The first strand of DNA showed a 99.2 per cent match, as the analysis instrument could not determine the sequence of the missing 0.8 per cent fragment of DNA. On testing the second strand, we achieved a perfect 100 per cent match."

Killing sports ... this map of Whitechapel in the 1800s shows Flower and Dean Streets in purple and the sites of some killings as red spots. Picture: SuppliedSource: Supplied

Kosminski was born in Poland in 1865 before moving to Whitechapel, England, in 1881.

The murders attributed to Jack the Ripper began in 1888, with up to 11 deaths around the Whitechapel area linked to the killer.

Frances Coles, believed to be the Ripper's last victim, died in February 1891 — the same year Kosminski was forcibly put in Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum.

He remained in mental health facilities until his death in 1919, aged 53.

A BRITISH union leader has revealed how a mysterious virus left him with no pulse and reliant on a machine to pump blood around his body.

Mark Serwotka, who heads the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), the UK's biggest civil service union, contracted the virus in 2010 after walking his dog.

The black Labrador rolled in something disgusting and after cleaning the dog Serwotka discovered the next day that his entire body had swollen up, he told the Guardian in an interview.

A week later his heart rate went out of control, rising to 220 beats a minute, and he was rushed to hospital with a suspected heart attack.

Instead doctors discovered that the virus had attacked his internal organs including his heart.

Pretty soon his heart muscle became too weak to pump blood around his body and he was put on a pacemaker. When his condition worsened he was fitted with a ventricular assist device (Vad), which pumps blood around his body.

The pump is next to his left heart ventricle and powered by batteries that he wears in a bumbag and which are connected to the device via a cable that goes in to his body through a hole in his stomach. The device beeps every six hours when the batteries need changing.

He told the paper that the condition has left him with no pulse, adding that carrying the battery-pack around everywhere he goes was "a pain in the arse".

He said: "When I'm watching telly, I plug myself into the mains to charge the batteries. When I'm driving, I use the cigarette lighter."